Best Farmers Market for Produce (2009)

The Valley's many, many farmers markets employ a canny scheduling strategy to attract scarce growers and busy customers: They're not all held at the same day and time. Saturday mornings are particularly competitive, all the same, and the Paradise Valley area is blessed with a venerable institution that presents a plethora of produce from fertile fields scattered all around town.

Roadrunner Park Farmers Market is Phoenix's oldest (it celebrates 20 years in business this fall), and that's a good thing — it feels like a portable weekly neighborhood where everybody knows everybody. Under the park's tall pines, chugging Sonoran coffee and listening to live banjo music, you'll peep no fewer than eight hardworking farm stands — some expansive, some teensy, but all bringing a good variety of local, seasonal wares, including Hom's colorful Asian specialties, Pinnacle Gardens' pampered organics, and plump, spotless veg and eggs from Lewis' Hen House and Veggie Farm. One Windmill Farms, Big Happy Farms, and Crooked Sky Farms help round out the selection with everything from ancient indigenous bean species to famous Queen Creek peaches. Once you've chosen a favorite farm, find out about subscribing to their harvest as a CSA (community-supported agriculture) member.